Bangladesh sense their time has come

Fired up Bangladesh sense a World Cup quarter-final berth will be one match away by close of play in Nelson on Thursday as they prepare to play a disconsolate Scotland. Both sides are coming off a seven-day break following losses but their attitudes are polar opposites heading into the Pool A encounter.

While Bangladesh are talking up the future despite being thrashed by Sri Lanka, Scotland are weighed down by the past where their loss to Afghanistan a week ago made them the worst performing side in World Cup history. They were devastated to lose to the tournament newcomers after having Afghanistan on the ropes at 97-7 chasing 211 and letting them steal victory with three balls to spare.

"It's going to be a huge challenge for us to respond to this," said skipper Preston Mommsen as he considered the erratic performances from his side. "We know Bangladesh are a side we're capable of beating. We've played good cricket in parts in the first three games, but not for long enough."

Losing to Afghanistan left the Scots with the unwelcome record of having been beaten in all 11 matches they have played in three World Cups, overtaking the Netherlands who suffered 10 consecutive defeats. The future does not look too bright for Scotland either for if they fail to beat Bangladesh then they have Sri Lanka and Australia to come and the record could balloon out to 0-14.

Bangladesh, meanwhile, are upbeat despite losing to Sri Lanka by 92 runs. Having been eliminated in pool play in three of the previous World Cups they have contested, they now believe they can emulate their 2007 achievement of making the last eight when they finished the group stage ahead of India.

They lie third in the Pool A table, ahead of Australia on run rate, and know they are assured of a quarter-final berth if they win two of their last three games against winless Scotland, misfiring England and unbeaten New Zealand. "I think they are desperate to play a very big game for Bangladesh," fielding coach Richard Halsall said.

"The great thing is we win two out of the next three games, we are through to the quarter-finals. So they are genuinely excited." The margin of Bangladesh's loss to Sri Lanka was exaggerated by a sub-standard fielding performance which included five spilled catches as the Sri Lankans raced to 332-1.

But there was some solidity with the bat where Sabbir Rahman scored 53, Shakib Al Hasan 46 and Mushfiqur Rahim 36. In their 105-run win over Afghanistan to start their World Cup, Rahim scored 71 and Hasan 63 while their other match against Australia was washed out. Scotland have suffered from inconsistency in their losses to New Zealand, England and Afghanistan which have left them languishing at the bottom of their pool.

Kyle Coetzer's lone hand 71 against England is by far the Scots' top score in the tournament with Matt Machan (56) and Richie Berrington (50), both against New Zealand, the only other players to post half-centuries. Neither side has impressed with the ball apart from Scotland's Josh Davey who has an impressive nine wickets from three outings. Against Afghanistan, Berrington took four for 40 for Scotland while Bangladesh's Mashrafe Morgaza took three for 20, while Scotland's Iain Wardlaw claimed three for 57 against New Zealand in the only other performances of note.